Nuance of this "if I wanted to"

Question

Hi,

The excerpt below is from a book by David Sedaris.

Would you explain the nuance of the underlined part? I mean, I'd feel more comfortable if it were, "if I had to spend."

Also, please rephrase this "so be it."

(He, David, has a lisp issue here and Samson is a speech therapist.)
She was in love with the sound of her own name and seemed to view my speech impediment as a personal assault. If I wanted to spend the rest of my life as David Thedarith, then so be it. She, however, was going to be called Miss Chrissy Samson.

Thank you,
M

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

'If I wanted to' implies David felt that Chrissy felt that David had some choice about correcting his lisp.

David is being gently and ironically humorous about the situation.

'If I had to', on the other hand, would indicate David had no choice in the matter. That is probably true, but it's not a funny thing to say.

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

Oh, my goodness, this is funny!

Why "wanted" instead of "had to"? you ask. It's because "had to" portrays the speaker as the defeated victim of the speech impediment, as someone who has no choice. On the other hand, "wanted" portrays the speaker as a person who has the power to overcome his impediment, but who has chosen not to take steps to overcome it.

This turn of phrase is often used to goad a person into taking action to make improvements. It's usually in the form

If you want to [something embarrassing, unflattering, or unpleasant] (the rest of your life),

then [continue doing some self-defeating behavior].

Examples:

- Then don't go on a diet if you want to be fat the rest of your life!

- If you never want to be asked on a date, then just keep on wearing those sloppy clothes.

- If you want to end up unemployed and homeless some day, then drop out of school just as you wish.

_____________

then so be it = then that's the way it's going to be ~ then that's your business ~ then that's just your choice

(In the context given, this says "that's OK" while implying that it would be a foolish decision. It's like "Go ahead and make a foolish decision; see if I care".)

_____________

You understand, I hope, that lisping is the use of the th sound instead of the s sound. So just imagine how ridiculous Miss Chrissy Samsonwould sound with a lisp.

(mith crithy thamthon)

CJ

Mitsuo23 · Answer

Thank you, Clive and CJ.

especially

CalifJim So just imagine how ridiculous Miss Chrissy Samson would sound with a lisp.

I knew what the lisp was, but couldn't find a way to translate the line into Japanese. Now I could. It was when I read your sentence, and the Japanese sentence is still funny enoguh. [

]

Thanks!

m

Nuance of this "if I wanted to"

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions